Would Be Romantic
by A Moment In Subtext
Summary: Two kids travelling the stars together would have been romantic if they weren't brother and sister. My take on the relationship between the Leper, and his sister Sasha.


Andromeda

Would Be Romantic

By. A Moment In Subtext

I.

When Sasha was eight years old she came home from school to find both of her parents, and her older sister Talia dead, laying in puddles of their own blood. She'd let out an ear-splitting scream that made her brother Marcus, two years old than her, hurry his step and enter behind her. He took ten minutes to calm her down, then held her while she cried herself to sleep.

The next day he hacked into their parents bank account and hired himself a flying instructer, promising that as soon as he could pilot he'd fly her away from the memories. And for just one second, Sasha thinks that it might be romantic if he wasn't her brother.

II.

When Sasha was ten years old, Marcus forced her to get a job, and the only things she could do where the things her father had tried to teach her. She'd found a job, though, and when she told Marcus, the look of pride in his eyes almost made it worth it. Then she'd followed through on the job and killed a man, and realized that it wasn't as easy as the men in her family made it seem.

She'd cried herself to sleep again that night, but Marcus didn't come to her. He never mentioned her getting a job again, but when she did, two weeks later, he grinned a t her and clapped her on the back. She decided that it was easier to kill that she thought it was.

III.

When Sasha was elevn years old she made a resolution to find and kill the person who'd killed her parents three years previously. Marcus had laughed and wished her luck, and she thought that maybe if she did it he'd respect her, and that was all she wanted. But she was finding it harder and harder to find leads, and she knew that when he helped her he was only being condescending, but she asked him for help anyway.

She though he'd get sick of it eventually and tell her to stop wasting time and money searching, but he never did. He still joined her every night to look over her word, and when she sat next to him and fell asleep on his shoulder she thought that it was almost romantic.

IV.

When Sasha was thirteen years old the money started to run short, and so did what few leads she had. Marcus went out under and alias everyday, and she almost never saw him, but there was money enough for food, and that was alright. Then she'd gone out for another job and lost her virginity. He'd come to her that night, and for the first time in years she had cried. And he had kissed her gently and told her it was alright.

And then they'd made love in th eback of the ship, because it was the only thing they hadn't already done, and they both needed it. She'd seen the look in his eyes as he'd grinned and sauntered out of the room when they'd finished, and even if they were brother and sister, she'd liked it. But it wasn't romantic.

V.

When Sasha was fourteen she watched her brother on a mission secretly and the look in his eyes as he first took the girl then killed her scared her. She'd tried to lock herself in that night, but he knew all the codes and had come in anyway, and she knew that he knew she'd followed him. He took her roughly that night, so she'd almost call it rape, but when he was finished her whispered apologies in her ear until she fell asleep. But her picture of him was tainted from that moment on.

She knew that what she had with her brother was different, but she wasn't sure what it was, and she was somehow relieved to know that it wasn't remotely romantic.

VI.

When Sasha was fifteen she discovered that the person she'd loathed and chased after for years had been sleeping in her bed since she was a child. She'd stolen his gun, and his ship, and gotten as far away as she could, because she knew, and he knew, that she could never bring herself to follow through on her threat.

She'd sold the ship at the nearest drift and hitchhiked her way across the galaxy to another, where she'd picked up a few jobs and become quite well off. She made sure everyone knew her heritage and how much she hated it, because she could threaten to kill him all she wanted and never have to follow through.

VII.

When Sasha was sixteen she pretended to be surprised when he contacted her, even though she wasn't and they both knew it. She'd been expecting, even waiting for, that communique. Despite her misgivings, she accepted a job from him and completed it, and he paid her generously.

It was months before she worked up the nerve to go to him, and even then she was cautious, but he was still her brother. She spat at him, and worked out all her frustrations on him, and he let her, and she found the gesture to be sweet, and oddly romantic. Then he pinned her to a wall and took her, and she decided that it wasn't romantic at all.

VIII.

When Sasha was twenty-four she decided that she could love and hate her brother at the same time and she did just that. It was on that night, when she'd come back from a mission with blood-stained hands and kissed him straight out, that she'd finally gained his respect.

With that respect had come the grudging admiration. Sardonic looks, raised eyebrows, and twitchy smirks had been the only signs of something that could have, maybe, once upon a time been called romantic.

IX.

When Sasha was thrity-one she was captured and put in prison, all because she'd botched a mission and then covered for her brother. She fully expected to waste away there for at least a few years. Then the ship had come under attack and Marcus had come in and swept her off her feet and away from the prison, both of them laughing as if they were children.

She hated him with all her being, except when she didn't, and couldn't, because at those moments she loved him with all her being. As she ran with him, away from the morals and ethics of the universe, she decided that there was no way she could ever fit in there, and he caught her eyes. They'd tumbled into his ship and then into his bed, a brief flurry of flying clothes and then nothing but skin on skin until they finally lay still. She looked over at him sleepily, and when he smiled she smiled back, because she knew that in another time and place, this would be romantic.

X.

When Sasha was fourty she was still working for her brother, and she realized that she could be happy doing that and it scared her. That night she'd done her best to please him, and she was unsure if he'd noticed it or not, but he had. She closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder, and felt, rather than heard, him sigh. Her mouth twitched when she realized that he had fallen asleep with her there.

It scared her even more that he trusted her as he slept, because he wasn't one to trust, period. She sat up as gently as she could, amazed that he stayed still and silent except for his even breaths. And because she knew she had to, had to keep a promise to herself, had to do what he expected of her, had to just because it was the right thing to do and she'd never fully shed her morals, she slid the knife out of her gown and slit his throat. She watched for a long time as the blood gushed out onto the satin sheets, and then his eyes opened and he laughed as best he could without a windpipe and died. And she'd seen in his eyes that he was proud of her.

Then she plunged the knife into her own stomach, and leaned forward make contact with is dead lips, one final kiss before she too sunk into oblivion, because according to old earth history, if anyone where watching, this would be romantic.


End file.
